This invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for producing parasitic mites in quantities sufficient for commercial use as a biological control agent for selected insect pests, and more particularly relates to a method and apparatus for producing commercial quantities of the straw itch mites, Pyemotes tritici, that can be useful as biological control agents against selected insect pests.
Biological control of pests is a program in which certain selected beneficial organisms are manipulated to reduce a pest population below its economic injury threshold. One effective manipulative technique that has been successfully utilized to enhance biological control is the augmentation of natural enemies of selected pests. To achieve a successful program, mass releases of the beneficial organisms (predators or parasites) must be effected in order to be effective in a field situation. It has been suggested from time to time that pyemotid mites can successfully be used as control agents for stored-product pests, and certain laboratory experimentation has provided valuable information regarding the effectiveness of the straw itch mite, Pyemotes tritici (hereinafter referred to as the "parasitic mite"), on selected stored-product pests such as the angoumois grain moth, cigarette beetle, Indian meal moth, merchant grain beetle, red flour beetle, almond moth, sawtooth weevil, rusty grain beetle, lesser grain borer, rice weevil and many others. In addition, it has also been found that the parasitic mite can be an effective parasite in controlling and destroying fire ant colonies. However, rearing parasitic mites in the laboratory does not easily equate to methods and apparatus for producing such parasitic mites in commercial quantities for mass-release in the field.